Is Your Health "Muscle" Flabby or Firm?

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful, magical, relaxing, fun-filled Christmas and New Year Holiday. Isn’t that what we most of us want from our holidays? That they are lots of fun, and yet relaxing at the same time?

If you indulged greatly, you may be wishing that you had spent more time at the gym instead of sipping eggnog, but who has time during this season? And studies show that the amount of calories available to us between Thanksgiving and Christmas can’t be offset by workouts. You still have to choose wisely what you put on your plate.[i]

Like 75% of Americans, I gained a few pounds over Christmas. But this blog isn’t about weight-it is about health. Just like your butt and biceps get flabby when you don’t work out, your health gets “flabby” when you don’t exercise it.

You know how you feel when you have neglected your health. Over-fed, bloated, tired, crabby, stiff, wooden, depressed, foggy, with difficulty sleeping, mood-swings, and a range symptoms of allergies or illness.

You don’t have to have a buff body to flex your health muscle. And, just like with exercise, you can’t get strong over-night. It takes consistency and dedication to build any kind of muscle. Building health will take some sacrifice. Everything worth pursuing takes sacrifice. Achieving goals always means traveling along a narrow channel and avoiding the distractions on either side.

So, here is my “prescription” for 2015. Embrace health. There has never been more to gain, or more to lose. We now know that mental and emotional health is very influenced by our physical health. You can be sharper, happier, less stressed as well as symptom-free.

It is true that many people from the Baby Boomers and Generation X are going to be living into their 90’s. One of my friends just lost his 94-year old mother. She passed at home, in her sleep. She was on no medication and raised her son on healthy food and supplements.  

Television is full of commercials about saving for your retirement years, because the money may run out before your heart gives out. But all the money in the world won’t buy back your health, if your body can’t function. And there are no medications that repair the body at a cellular level. Only organic living food, healthy life-style choices, and personal spirituality can give you a body tough enough to make middle and old age bearable, or even enjoyable.

Life is an Olympic event. Embrace health. Don’t make it a negative- make it a positive. Being your best and feeling your best means demanding for yourself.

Pick just one or two changes at a time, if you have a long road back to health. Drink more water, cook organic food at home more, walk and stretch more, smile more, hug more, breathe more, eat greens more, detox more, eat more healthy fat, sleep more. Health is life. All around us people are selling little bits of non-life in the form of chemicals, toxins and adulterated products that tease the senses, but make them dull over time. And those bits of tasty chemicals will erode our health, leaving us starved of the vitality that keeps a body strong and energetic.

Fresh, real, and alive food is the best medicine you can give yourself, and leads to the best quality of life. Choose a way to flex your health muscle every day. And let 2015 be the year that, despite being a year older, you became healthier and happier. That is my fondest wish for you.

[i] http://greatist.com/health/holiday-weight-gain-study-120513

Six Reasons Your Hair is Thinning

You won’t have thicker hair by Christmas, but you can stop thinning hair soon. It will take some time to start to see new growth, but thinning hair can be corrected. Understanding why your hair is failing to grow or falling out is the first step.

So many patients come to my office on hair supplements, but I cannot remember a single case that was helped. There are some Chinese herbs that might be effective, but most commercial vitamins, including Biotin, are not. It takes a special understanding of hair and body chemistry to correct the deficiencies that may contribute to hair loss.

First consider your general health picture. Is your skin dry? Are you overweight? Do you live a sedentary lifestyle, sitting all day and rarely exercising? Are you eating junk or processed food or too much sugar? Do you have digestive upset or bloating?

So, Reason Number One for thinning hair is unhealthy lifestyle. Think of hair (and skin) as an end product of what goes on inside your body. You would not expect prize-winning roses to grow in a garbage dump. So don’t expect thick luscious hair if you treat your body like a dump. Doing a cleanse and changing your diet to include plenty of nutrients from whole foods may be the first step. Exercise to get blood circulating and get plenty of sleep.

Reason Number Two is hypo (low or underactive) thyroid. If you went to your doctor and had blood work and were told that your thyroid is “fine,” understand what that means. The interpretation of blood work is geared towards disease that can be medicated or demands surgery.  Your thyroid hormones may not be in balance or sufficient, but if you don’t show a thyroid disease state your hypothyroid condition may be not recognized. Difficulty losing weight, fatigue, mental fog, high cholesterol, constipation and dry skin are all signs of a thyroid that is not functioning well enough. Coarse and falling hair is also a symptom of thyroid issues.

Finding a holistic doctor or nutritionist, who can help balance your thyroid and make sure that your other glands are also working well, is the best solution. The thyroid is the conductor to your hormonal orchestra, and glands never operate without communicating with other glands.

Reason Number Three happens when thyroid medication does not fully address the problem of hypothyroid. Synthroid is prescribed based on a pituitary hormone called TSH-Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. Synthroid can cause thinning hair because the thyroid hormones are not well-balanced. Ask your doctor if you can switch to Armour Thyroid or another natural thyroid medicine. Synthroid can be helped to work correctly, with the addition of correct natural medicine or minerals, and that can stop your hair from falling out. Ask your hair stylist about Synthroid and many will tell you that it is one of the major reasons their clients are losing hair.

Reason Number Four is gall bladder/liver congestion. Gall bladder is the organ that performs fat metabolism and the liver is one of the main filters in the body. Find out about doing a liver/gall bladder cleanse and get a dietary evaluation to restore liver health. A healthy liver is vital for healthy hair and skin.

Reason Number Five is insufficient protein, or poorly digested protein. Hair is made up of protein called Keratin. If you are eating a vegan or vegetarian or bread-atarian diet, you may not be getting the protein your body needs to make new hair. Also, if you cannot digest the protein you are eating, you may not get the benefit. If you feel heavy after a protein meal, or have stinky gas, start taking digestive enzymes. You should also consider doing a cleanse to get rid of any build-up of undigested protein. A cleanse is always a good boost to hair and skin.

Reason Number Six is high sugar, carb, or alcohol diet, which depletes vital minerals. Some minerals, like iron, may be lost during the menstrual cycle. Other minerals may be missing from the diet, if whole foods are not eaten. This is another argument for eating organic food whenever possible. Organic produce may have more minerals than commercial produce, and will certainly have less pesticide contamination for the liver to detox.

Drugs of any kind will deplete the body’s supply of nutrients quickly. Coffee and tea may contain anti-oxidants but they also are diuretics, which may pull minerals out of the body.

So, if your hair is thinning, it is a sign that there are some deficiencies or imbalances and it is time for some correction. Not only will you look better, but your over-all health will be improved. You probably have other symptoms that you don’t realize are connected.

Stop counting the number of hairs you see in your brush or on your pillow.

At Well Body Clinic we help identify the causes for hair loss and get them corrected by treating the underlying cause. Call us at 818-562-1400 to book a free 15-minute consultation on hair loss.

Free Wellness Check To Get You Through the Holidays

Looks like the flu season has arrived, along with Christmas. In LA it seems the traffic has tripled, adding to the stress of trying to get everything done.

To help you keep healthy so that you can enjoy your Holiday, we are offering a free wellness check. If you feel that you are coming down with something, book a complimentary 10 minute check. Then get the exact supplements you need so that you avoid getting sick, or at least minimize the damage and recover as quickly as possible.

Can’t make it to the office? If someone can pick up supplements for you, give us a call and we can talk on the phone. We can even mail to you, although that may take some time with the Holiday rush.

If you have little ones who can’t take supplements easily, ask about our new Echinacea transdermal cream. We mix the strongest Echinacea on the planet into an organic Aloe Vera based cream. You can rub it on your child’s skin to deliver a good dose of immune-enhancing Echinacea. This works for adult-sized kids, too. Echinacea has been proven to enhance longevity, also, so this cream has the advantage of being anti-aging.

One of the worse things about recent winter illnesses has been a lingering cough. We can use Golden Seal, Herbal Throat Spray or the amazing Pneumotrophin to stop your cough before it takes hold and moves in for the winter.

Don’t worry about coming in when you are sick. We take immune enhancers daily this time of year, another thing you might consider. If you know that you normally entertain a good winter cold or other virus in the winter.

Our Flu and Cold clinic is officially open between now and New Year’s for a free wellness check. Our gift to you to keep your Holiday as healthy as can be. 

Suffering from Post-Holiday Digestive Syndrome?

A lot of people seem to be describing digestive difficulties since the Holiday weekend. And this is just the beginning of the Season to Eat, Drink and Be Merry.

So, if you are suffering now, ask Santa for an early gift of digestive enzymes. Even if you normally take acid blockers or antacids, you need digestive enzymes. Don’t get the chewable papaya ones. They taste great, but then won’t do the job and mostly just handle protein. And the added sugar probably defeats most of the purpose. Sugar lowers your stomach acid, so interferes with protein digestion.

Look for digestive enzymes that help break down carbohydrate, protein and fat. The label will say Amylase, Protease and Lipase. If the enzyme product also has Betaine hydrochloride, even better.

You can take a couple between meals to get rid of that “over-stuffed” feeling. Then start taking two supplements at every meal. Keep on taking them throughout the Holiday season. Don’t stop January first. Most Americans are eating too few real foods that contain any enzymes, so we all need digestive help.

If you have a gut, or your waist size is bigger than your hip size, you have a muffin top, or need to lose more than five pounds, you need digestive enzymes. You can also had in probiotics. Enzymes are for the stomach digestion and probiotics work in the intestine. There seems to be a lot of confusion about this. The human stomach needs enzymes and hydrochloric acid and the gut/intestine needs probiotics.

Organic Apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon in cup of warm water before meals, can also help. Eating foods that contain live cultures, like Kefir and unsweetened yogurt, can help. Real sauerkraut is good, as is Kombucha.

Meanwhile, to end the bloating, don’t combine bread and protein or fruit and protein. Eat protein only with vegetables. Eat fruit alone. Try skipping the bread altogether, or switch to gluten-free. “Food For Life” is my favorite brand. Eat lettuce wraps instead of sandwiches.

Many people can wean off acid blockers by going on the right digestive enzymes. If you have an ulcer, don’t add hydrochloric acid, but use enzymes that contain amylase, protease and lipase. Most of us need more digestive help, not less.

Try to slow down when you eat. If you arrive at a party stressed and hungry, have some water first. Take some deep breaths. Nibble on something and wait a bit for your blood sugar to come up so you don’t binge. There is a long month of feasting ahead. Decide beforehand what kinds of things you will indulge in. For example, choose bread or dessert, but not both.

Holiday pleasures can come in small doses, and digestive enzymes will help you keep up with the feasting. This way you can spread some Holiday cheer in the direction of your digestion. Your stomach will be merrier for it.